The Trump administration has fired about 1,000 newly hired National Park Service employees who maintain and clean parks, educate visitors and perform other functions as part of its broad-based effort to downsize government.

Another late Summer-like afternoon, but cooler temps are on the way!

The National Park Service announced Thursday that the Blue Ridge Parkway from milepost 0 to milepost 198 in Virginia will re-open at 8 a.m. Friday.

Shenandoah National Park will be closing its rivers and streams to fishing due to low flows and high water temperatures.

The FBI has identified the man believed to be responsible for killing two women in Shenandoah National Park in 1996, a significant development in the decades-long double homicide case.

Fires have been popping up all throughout Southwest Virginia and a big reason is weather.

Authorities are asking for help finding an Appalachian Trail hiker last seen more than a week ago on Christmas Eve.

The search for a missing Virginia woman was suspended on Saturday.

(Bill Ingalls/NASA via AP)CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Jupiter and Saturn will merge in the night sky Monday, appearing closer to one another than they have since Galileo’s time in the 17th century. Jupiter passes its neighbor Saturn in their respective laps around the sun every 20 years. Saturn and Jupiter have been drawing closer in the south-southwest sky for weeks. Despite appearances, Jupiter and Saturn will actually be more than 450 million miles (730 million kilometers) apart. A telescope will not only capture Jupiter and Saturn in the same field of view, but even some of their brightest moons.

LURAY, Va. A small plane with only the pilot aboard crashed Wednesday in the Shenandoah National Park, authorities said. A single-engine Piper PA-20-135 plunged into some trees in the park in Rappahannock County at about 1:30 p.m. local time, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement. The FAA statement had no immediate word on the fate of the pilot or the identity of the person. Park officials tweeted Wednesday afternoon that it was investigating the crash and would release more details as we know them.The National Transportation Safety Board tweeted that it was investigating the crash in the Luray area, near one of the entrances to the large park. No further details were immediately available.

NELSON COUNTY, Va. – The northernmost 13 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway are now closed. The National Park Service announced the closure is in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus and is in coordination with the closure now in place at Shenandoah National Park. Both closures will remain in effect until further notice. Access to hiking trails remains open where not inaccessible due to road closure for weather, maintenance, emergency or administrative necessity.